Rilwan's abduction: judge says state's negligence led to acquittal of suspects

Criminal Court has on Thursday acquitted both individuals charged in the disappearance of journalist Ahmed Rilwan.

Aalif Rauf and Mohamed Nooradeen were accused of abducting Rilwan in front of his residence in Hulhumalé and charged with terrorism.

Both were acquitted on the grounds of 'insufficient evidence'.

Journalist Rilwan was last seen in the early hours of 8th August 2014 and is believed to have been abducted outside his apartment building in Hulhumalé. Police have said that on the night of Rilwan's disappearance, they had received a report of an individual being forced into a red car in Hulhumalé, but that the car was gone by the time they reached there. Police later said the car was registered under Aalif’s name, and that it had been taken into Hulhumalé illegally.

At Thursday's verdict hearing, presiding Judge Adam Arif noted that authorities had failed to properly investigate the case, and provide a number of details to court, including

• To submit registration of car to prove it belonged to Rauf
• To conduct an analysis to see if hair strand found in car matched with other family members of Rilwan's mother
• To conduct a forensic report on knife found left at the scene
• To provide video footage of location where defence claimed car was parked on the night of abduction, and
• To provide the chain of custody of hair strand found in car.

While the investigation had shown that a red car was transported from capital Malé City to Hulhumale days prior to Rilwan's abduction and returned shortly after, none of the state's witnesses were able to confirm its registration number or prove that either Rauf or Nooradeen were involved in the transfer.

Furthermore, some witnesses confirmed a loud commotion outside Rilwan's apartment building in Hulhumalé on the night of his disappearance and seeing a man being forced inside a car, with some testifying that that the abductors had dropped a knife at the scene before making a getaway. However, they were not able to clearly identify the man that was forced into the car.

Noting that there had not been any other abductions reported around that time, the Judge highlighted that there is a possibility that it was indeed Rilwan being abducted in Hulhumale' that night, but stated that none of the witnesses can confirm to seeing those charged at the scene.

Further noting that the state's witnesses had testified to seeing Rauf driving around in a red car in Hulhumale' and that a hair strand matching Rilwan's mother was found in the said car, the Judge highlighted the state's failure to provide its chain of custody. Noting that this is required, he added that the expert presented to court had highlighted that the DNA could match with all female siblings of Rilwan's mother, as well as her grandchildren.

However, Judge Arif noted that the state had even failed to inform the court whether his mother has any female siblings.

Further, the Judge highlighted that the authorities had failed to provide a forensic report of the knife found at the scene or a video analysis report of the video showing a third suspect in the case, Mohamed Suaid following Rilwan prior to his abduction. While Suaid reported to have died after fleeing to Syria to join its internal conflict, the trial was held without him; however, the state says it cannot confirm his death.

In addition, the court noted that some of the defence's witnesses had testified that the car Rauf had driven around had been parked at a certain area but that police's testimonies prove that they had failed to obtain the CCTV footage of the area, despite being requested to do so.